Creating a backup stream

With an Enterprise membership, you can produce two streams simultaneously to the same event, with one being your backup in case of a failure with your primary stream, such as a system crash or power failure.

What you need

In order to use this feature, you will need to set up two separate encoders, each with their own video and audio inputs and network connections. You can either use any two third-party encoder via RTMP, or you can stream directly to your Vimeo account using two licenses of Livestream Studio. You can also do both; for example, you can use Studio as your primary and an RTMP encoder as your backup, or vice versa.

You will need to determine which encoder will be your primary encoder and which one will be your backup. How you configure the streaming settings for the backup encoder will vary slightly from the primary encoder.

Note that there is no need to match both encoders' streaming resolutions, bitrates, frame rates, etc. in order for this feature to work (although you may want to consider matching as much as possible for the best viewing experience).

Create an event

Start by creating an event on Vimeo by clicking + New Video > Create live event.

Click Next on the Live Settings page, then select the Connect (RTMP) tab, regardless if you are using Studio or a third-party RTMP encoder.

How to configure RTMP

Under Connect (RTMP), find the RTMP URL and Stream Key. You can input this into any RTMP encoder as you normally would into your primary encoder.

For your backup encoder, you will copy and paste the same RTMP URL, but instead of the standard Stream Key, copy and paste the Backup stream key into the Stream Key field in your backup encoder.

How to configure Livestream Studio

First, make sure you are running Studio version 6.3.0. Earlier versions do not include this feature.

In the Stream tab, select Vimeo as your provider. Choose your event from the drop-down menu. If Studio is a primary encoder, you will go live as normal.

If you are using Studio as a backup encoder, you will need to make sure your primary stream is live first. Then click Advanced Settings (below the Share With dropdown menu) and select the Backup streamcheckbox; note that this checkbox will remain grayed out until you have a primary stream running to your event.

Start streaming

Regardless of whether you are streaming via RTMP or Livestream Studio, go live from the primary encoder first. Once that connects, you can then start the stream from your backup encoder.

You can then check the stream health monitor to confirm that Vimeo is receiving both streams.

If your primary stream disconnects, the backup stream will automatically take over. The stream health monitor will indicate this.

If you are able to bring back your primary stream, make sure the primary encoder is live (using the same RTMP URL and Stream Key as before) and then stop the stream from the backup encoder. The Vimeo player will then utilize the primary stream. Once that's done, you can start the backup encoder again to have it ready.

Ending the stream

When you utilize primary and backup streams and you are ready to end your stream entirely, be sure to click the red End event button from the Live Preview page. This will end the live video on Vimeo and start the archiving process.